Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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20. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether it is fair to expect students to pay the highest fees in the EU at a time when many students have lost work and many households have seen a drop in their income, particularly if courses are to be conducted partially or completely online; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22244/20]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The question is on college fees. The Minister will know that there was a problem here already in that our fees are the highest in Europe. Many countries, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Greece, have no fees at all. My question is on high fees generally but also the fees being charged this year. Many students feel that it is grossly unfair to charge the same fees while they are not availing of the same campus facilities and so on. Can we have a reduction in fees?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. One of the few jurisdictions that has higher fees is Northern Ireland. I presume the same logic would apply in terms of the Deputy wanting to see a reduction in fees in Northern Ireland where Sinn Féin is in government and where the fees are £4,395 sterling per annum and students, therefore, are leaving colleges in Northern Ireland heavily indebted through a student loan system that I view as wholly unfair.

Under the Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate higher education students at an average annual cost of €6,500 per student. Students pay a student contribution of €3,000 per annum, which can be paid in instalments, but importantly and rarely commented on, the State pays the contribution in full or part for an estimated 44% of all students eligible for free fees funding through SUSI. This means that 44% of our students are either having their contribution fee fully or partially paid by the State at an estimated cost of €180 million for 2019-20. In addition to the student contribution funded by the State, we are also providing €340 million through the SUSI grants in 2019 and 2020.

The programme for Government commits to develop a long-term sustainable funding model for higher level education.  In addition, I intend to specifically examine student supports to ensure all students have access to educational opportunities and supports that will help them to fulfil their potential. While the balance of costs and benefits of higher education will be considered as part of the reform of higher education funding, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, in fairness, the Deputy is correct to raise, has an immediate burden on students. For this reason, in July, I announced €168 million in funding to support the sector and students, including a doubling of the student assistant fund from €8 million to €16 million, a €5 million fund for mental health supports and a €15 million fund for technology supports to purchase laptops for students. I accept we have a lot more to do in removing cost as a barrier on this island and I intend to take a number of steps to try to help remove those barriers.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome that the Minister has acknowledged that fees are too high and I agree that they are too high across the island and need to be reduced. There is no comparison between the two jurisdictions given we do not, as yet, have control of exchequer finances in the North. In a recent survey of students carried out by Sinn Féin, 70% said that they have lost employment opportunities. This has compounded everything this year because they do not have the jobs now that they previously had. One of my questions regarding Covid payments for students and whether they are to be continued and be taken into account in regard to fees, has been transferred to the Department of Employment Affair and Social Protection. A reduction in fees by, say, €500 this year would cost €39.3 million. While I welcome all of the announcements the Minister has made, they need to relate to tangible measures that students can access because too many people are excluded from SUSI as it is and they have significant bills coming in the door next week.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy. Opportunities that are often available to students will not be available in the current college year, the most obvious being employment opportunities. Many students work part time to supplement the cost of living and the cost of going to college. For this reason, we decided to make a targeted intervention this year in doubling the student assistance fund. This fund is available through access offices in colleges and universities around the country for students who fall on hard times, in addition to SUSI grants. We also made sure that there was a flexibility in SUSI in terms of a sudden change in a family's income arising from Covid. It is also why we changed the rules relating to supports for people in direct provision to access SUSI grants as well. Let me be clear: I fully accept that there is more that needs to be done. The programme for Government references the need for a fundamental overhaul of the student support system and that is something I hope we can advance in the coming months.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. On the student assistance fund, I ask that this be made very accessible, particularly for people who on the face of it may appear to have a gross income that should sustain their needs, but it will not. I refer particularly to cases where there are two front-line workers in one family, yet they cannot afford to send their children to college.

The only way to do this is to look at the fees and have them reduced rather than having the different packages available. Sometimes it can be so complex that people cannot get access.

Colleges really need to look at what they are providing this year and the cost of those provisions. This of course relates to the gross underfunding of institutions, and they are trying to get students to carry the can for the chronic underfunding within the institutions themselves. There is gross unfairness in that because of an unaffordability element that really concerns me.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I very much welcome the survey done by the Deputy and it is important to directly hear the voices of students. In 2015, the State was investing approximately €1.4 billion of Exchequer funds in higher education and that has now risen to €1.8 billion. When we add the SUSI costs, the figure rises to above €2 billion. We need to do more and the programme for Government commits us to doing more.

We can consider the SUSI support schemes. I remember when SUSI was introduced. It brought about much improvement as it removed fragmentation around the country but there are anomalies that we need to address. These must all be part of the normal budgetary process. I can give an example. SUSI does not take into consideration childcare costs, and this could present a barrier to many families, particularly one-parent families, in accessing education. We must introduce reforms relating to postgraduate supports and for part-time learners. This is an indication of my thinking as we approach the budgetary process for this year and in the lifetime of this Government.